Re: Help! - Timing Belt

[brett@kodak.com (Brett VanSprewenburg)]

> Hello everyone,
> I have a question from a friend who has a 1983 Rabbit GTI (yes, I know
> it's not a Scirocco, but it has the 1.8 JH engine).  This is the
> situation:  The car has gradually started acting funny.  The rpm's
> having  varying widely while driving, very jumpy (anywhere from below to
> 5k at any time), making for very un-fun drive.  After this occurred for
> a while, the car would not rev above 1k rpms..in neutral.  

I have experienced a couple of similar symptoms before.  I cured it in one
situation by replacing all the fuel injectors.  At least one of them was
sticking, so I went to a junk yard, found a late model fuel injected VW,
and transplanted the injectors to my 1980 Scirocco 'S'.  The car stopped
sputtering and bucking and drove right nicely!  Anyway, be careful when
dealing with the fuel injection system, it's a high pressure fuel delivery
system and as everyone knows, gas tends to explode. ;-)

Also, you may also want to check the plastic seals that the injectors are
in.  If air is leaking around them, it will throw off the fuel to air ratio
of the engine and cause it act like you're seeing.  Spray some WD-40 or
carb cleaner near the seals while the engine is running, if the seals are
leaking, the spray will be sucked into the engine and the idle will change.
That's your clue that something is wrong in that dept.  New seals and a good
mechanics' skills are needed in order to replace these.

Anyway, if some mechanic says that your timing belt is loose, and you've got
more than 50 or 60k on your current one; get it replaced.

If you'd like more info, contact me.

==Brett
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